You are perfectly able to groove and boogie with the best of players by adjusting the notes and licks to a smaller hand with a lighter touch. Combining boogie-woogie, blues, rock, and rock ‘n‘ roll elements into an enticing mix, boogie & blues piano offers the freedom to play unaccompanied and to present a repertoire that is based on your own particular strengths. The rules of improvisation and how to jam along with other musicians are much easier to learn than in complex jazz music.

German ULRIKE GAATE is one of the few female boogie & blues piano players in Europe and Sydneysider JAN PRESTON is known as the 'Queen of Boogie Piano' throughout Australia and New Zealand. Ulrike and Jan met from across the world through their shared love of the boogie piano tradition. They have produced this boogie & blues tutor to help and inspire female players of all ages to experience the uplifting energy and abundant possibilities of this style.

The book contains:
• 8 original compositions ranging in difficulty from lower intermediate to advanced

• Songs specifically arranged for pianists with small hands

• Important characteristics of the boogie & blues piano style 

• A variety of left-hand patterns for small hands

• Multiple exercises

• Instructions for entering the world of improvisation

• Audio samples downloadable as mp3 files and QR codes

The nimble-fingered and powerful-voiced JAN PRESTON, known as Australia’s queen of boogie piano, was born in New Zealand and began her musical life as a classical pianist. But after moving to New York in the late 1970s Jan was turned on to rhythm and blues, hearing pianists there such as Professor Longhair. She returned to NZ, formed a band who quickly had a number-one hit, and in 1980 moved her music career to Sydney Australia where she has been resident ever since. As well as a pianist, singer and songwriter, Jan is one of the country’s leading film composers. She has won two ‘Best Film Music’ awards, three ‘Best Australian Female Blues Artist’ Awards, written television themes, featured on TV and radio, and played supports for blues acts such as Robert Cray and Bo Diddley. Currently she plays festivals and concerts throughout Australia, NZ and Europe, tours her own shows, composes for films, and performs original music for silent movies. Above all Jan has focused on discovering her own boogie style, which now sees her shine as a truly Antipodean original.